Events

Finding Clarity in Yoga Practice, Culture & Service

A SPECIAL WEEKEND with Matthew Remski

Join Matthew Remski, writer, researcher and “heart-centered skeptic,” as he leads thought-provoking discussions on some of the vital issues facing yoga practitioners and teachers today.

The Death of a Yogi | Friday 6:00-8:00p

Michael Stone, who offered yoga and meditation retreats worldwide and authored several innovative books, died on July 16 after taking street drugs. He had struggled with bipolar disorder for decades. Matthew will speak about the life of his friend and colleague, and hold space for group reflection on how mental illness is held and hidden in our yoga communities. All donations for this offering will benefit Michael’s surviving family.

Schedule:Friday, October 27, 20176:00-8:00p

Suggested Donation: $35If you would like to make a donation that is either lesser or greater than the pricing options shown at checkout, please call us or stop by the studio to RSVP.

It’s natural for everyone to have a private definition of yoga practice. What could be more intimate and personal than the sensations and meanings of movement, breath, meditation and contemplation? And yet, if we stop with our private definitions, we miss out on not only the historical richness and diversity of yoga literature, we run the risk of further fragmenting a heritage that has struggled to survive colonialism and now globalization. In this discussion we’ll explore the difference between “yoga as a personal journey” and yoga as an historic spirituality with specific roots in Indian wisdom practice.

In many yoga spaces, teachers and students share the expectation that adjustments are a standard part of practice. But this aspect of modern yoga is marred by an uncomfortable history. At the dawn of the global movement in 1930s India, adjustments in key learning spaces such as the Mysore Palace merged with the somatics of corporal punishment. They conveyed assumptions about spiritualized pain and surrender delivered through a pedagogy of unquestioned charisma and presumed consent. In combination, these factors have led to decades of blurred boundaries, sexualized touch, and general intrusion. If you’re a yoga teacher and you want to adjust people, this discussion will help you get square with this history first. It will help you think about how you will protect your students from it, especially in an unregulated industry. It will offer guidelines for moving forward in the creation of safe and student-driven yoga education.

What Is the Yoga Teacher's Scope of Practice? | Sunday 10:00a–12:00p

The modern yoga industry has aspirations towards therapeutic and social service, but few mechanisms to guide competency. It also has emerged from a pedagogy in which teachers have been explicitly rewarded for overstepping their trained skill sets. Some of this happens through earnest enthusiasm, but some of it intersects with outright manipulation. Complicating it all is the industry's allergy to legal regulation. It is left to yoga educators, therefore, to get really smart about understanding and defining what the limits and possibilities of their training are. In this discussion, we'll explore five potential guidelines that can positively inform scope of practice for the yoga teacher.

Does Yoga Support Social Justice Work? No and Yes. | Sunday 2:00-4:00p

The Bhagavad Gita was the favourite book of both Gandhi and his assassin. European fascist movements of the 1930s were fascinated with yoga. And today, practicing yoga is not a reliable predictor of one’s political persuasion. The Yoga Sutras will not teach you about reproductive rights, rape culture or white privilege. The Hatha yoga texts are in no way feminist. Is it a mistake to believe that practicing yoga makes you a better citizen or ally? In this discussion we’ll explore how social justice work really begins with education that comes from beyond the yoga mat. And — how those who are working in social justice movement really can trust yoga practice to help build resilience.

This workshop is open to anyone, and is part of our 300-hour Advanced Teacher Training program. If you are taking this workshop toward your advanced teaching certification, please register for the 300-hour program online in advance.

Please plan carefully: Refunds of 90% are granted up to 5 days prior to the workshop start; after which, no refunds are given.